The correlation between water sensitive urban design and urban climate: A bibliometric analysis

Abstract

The rapid population growth in the past two centuries has caused a significant rise in urbanisation, leading to various environmental impacts. To address these negative consequences, the adoption of new technologies is crucial. One such approach is Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD). This study aims to investigate the relationship between Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) and urban climate, particularly in the context of challenges posed by urban sprawl, such as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect and stormwater pollution. Employing a bibliometric analysis and utilising the similar visualisation software (VOSviewer), the research analyses publications from 2014 to 2023 to identify prominent countries, institutions, authors, journals, and emerging research trends. A total of 38 publications documented in the Scopus database were reviewed as of January 2024. The findings reveal that 2022 marked a peak in research output, with the Journal of Hydrology leading in publications and Simon C. Beecham recognised as the foremost author. Notably, Australia contributed 37% of the total publications, with Monash University identified as a key institutional contributor. The analysis uncovered critical themes related to water management, climate resilience, and sustainable urban practices, underscoring their interconnectedness. Despite these insights, the study identified a significant gap in the literature regarding the interplay between WSUD, low-impact development (LID), sustainable urban drainage (SUD), thermal comfort, and UHI. This gap indicates a fertile area for future research, presenting a roadmap for scholars to explore these connections more comprehensively.

Keywords

• Low impact development
• sustainable urban drainage systems
• thermal comfort
• urban climate
• Water sensitive urban design

References

1. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. “World Urbanization Prospects 2018 Highlights,” United Nations, 2019.
2. L. Teang, (2021). " Modelling The Impact of Water Sensitive Urban Design on Pluvial Flood Management in a Tropical Climate (Master's thesis)," THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY.
3. M. Banjara, A. Bhusal, A. B. Ghimire, and A. Kalra, “Impact of Land Use and Land Cover Change on Hydrological Processes in Urban Watersheds: Analysis and Forecasting for Flood Risk Management,” Geosciences, Vol. 14(2), pp. 40, 2024.
4. V. R. S. Cheela, M. John, W. Biswas, and P. Sarker, “Combating Urban Heat Island Effect—A Review of Reflective Pavements and Tree Shading Strategies,” Buildings, Vol. 11(3), pp. 93, 2021.
5. S. Samouei, and M. Özger, “Evaluating the Performance of Low Impact Development Practices in Urban Runoff Mitigation Through Distributed and Combined Implementation,” Journal of Hydroinformatics, Vol. 22(6), pp. 1506–1520, 2020.
6. M. E. Dietz, “Low Impact Development Practices: A Review of Current Research and Recommendations for Future Directions,” Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, Vol. 186, pp. 351–363, 2007.
7. J. C. Radcliffe, " History of Water Sensitive Urban Design/Low Impact Development Adoption in Australia and Internationally." In A. K. Sharma, T. Gardner, and D. Begbie, (Eds.). Approaches to Water Sensitive Urban Design. Elsevier. pp. 1–24, 2019.
8. W. Peiyao, “Application of Sponge City Concept in Urban Waterfront Landscape Design,” Academic Journal of Architecture and Geotechnical Engineering, Vol. 6(3), pp. 1–5, 2024.

9. L. R. N. P. Rentachintala, M. G. M. Reddy, and P. K. Mohapatra, “Urban Stormwater Management for Sustainable and Resilient Measures and Practices: A Review,” Water Science and Technology, Vol. 85(4), pp. 1120–1140, 2022.
10. Y. Yuan, Q. Zhang, S. Chen, F. Chen, and M. Zhang, “Design and Spatial Pattern Optimization for a Sponge City Using Factor Analysis and Geographical Statistics to Restore Urban Resilience: A Case Study in a Coastal Area of China,” Water Science and Technology, Vol. 88(9), pp. 2246–2263, 2023.
11. C. Zevenbergen, D. Fu, and A. Pathirana, “Transitioning to Sponge Cities: Challenges and Opportunities to Address Urban Water Problems in China,” Water, Vol. 10(9), pp. 1230, 2018.
12. F. Ahammed, “A Review of Water-Sensitive Urban Design Technologies and Practices for Sustainable Stormwater Management,” Sustainable Water Resources Management, Vol. 3, pp. 269–282, 2017.
13. A. Chao Guerbatin, and F. Ahammed, “Climate Change Impacts on Water Sensitive Urban Design Technologies,” Sustainability, Vol. 16(4), pp. 1568, 2024.
14. T. D. Fletcher, W. Shuster, W. F. Hunt, R. Ashley, D. Butler, S. Arthur, S. Trowsdale, S. Barraud, A. Semadeni-Davies, J.-L. Bertrand-Krajewski, P. S. Mikkelsen, G. Rivard, M. Uhl, D. Dagenais, and M. Viklander, “SUDS, LID, BMPs, WSUD and More – The Evolution and Application of Terminology Surrounding Urban Drainage,” Urban Water Journal, Vol. 12(7), pp. 525–542, 2015.
15. M. J. Mouritz, (1996). " Sustainable Urban Water Systems: Policy and Professional Praxis (Doctoral dissertation)," Murdoch University.
16. S. S. B. Patil and C. Anbalagan, “A Contemporary Approach on Water Sensitive Urban Design for Sustainable Urban Development,” Materials Today: Proceedings, [Preprint], 2023.
17. J. Schirmer and F. Dyer, “A Framework to Diagnose Factors Influencing Proenvironmental Behaviors in Water-Sensitive Urban Design,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115(33), pp. E7690–E7699, 2018.
18. M. S. Lariyah, M. D. Mohd Nor, Z. A. Mohamed Roseli, M. Zulkefli, and M. P. Amirah Hanim, (2011, September 10-15). " Application of Water Sensitive Urban Design at Local Scale in Kuala Lumpur " [Paper presentation]. 12nd International Conference on Urban Drainage, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
19. R. Hakimdavar, P. J. Culligan, M. Finazzi, S. Barontini, and R. Ranzi, “Scale Dynamics of Extensive Green Roofs: Quantifying the Effect of Drainage Area and Rainfall Characteristics on Observed and Modeled Green Roof Hydrologic Performance,” Ecological Engineering, Vol. 73, pp. 494–508, 2014.
20. M. Razzaghmanesh, S. Beecham, and T. Salemi, “The Role of Green Roofs in Mitigating Urban Heat Island Effects in The Metropolitan Area of Adelaide, South Australia,” Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, Vol. 15, pp. 89–102, 2016.
21. H. Abuhassna, F. Awae, K. Bayoumi, D. U. Alzitawi, A. H. Alsharif, and N. Yahaya, “Understanding Online Learning Readiness among University Students: A Bibliometric Analysis,” International Journal of Interactive Mobile Technologies (iJIM), Vol. 16(13), pp. 81–94, 2022.
22. A. Hassan, N. Yahaya, M. A. Z. M. Zakaria, N. Abu Samah, and A. H. Alsharif, “A Bibliometric Analysis of Sustainability in Future Education: Trends and Future Agenda,” Sains Humanika, Vol. 14(3–2), pp. 167–176, 2022.
23. B.-J. He, J. Zhu, D.-X. Zhao, Z.-H. Gou, J.-D. Qi, and J. Wang, “Co-benefits Approach: Opportunities for Implementing Sponge City and Urban Heat Island Mitigation,” Land Use Policy, Vol. 86, pp. 147–157, 2019.
24. A. M. Broadbent, A. M. Coutts, N. J. Tapper, and M. Demuzere, “The Cooling Effect of Irrigation on Urban Microclimate During Heatwave Conditions,” Urban Climate, Vol. 23, pp. 309–329, 2018.
25. J. L. Senosiain, “Urban Regreeneration: Green Urban Infrastructure as a Response to Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation,” International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics, Vol. 15(1), pp. 33–38, 2020.
26. L. Rosenberger, J. Leandro, S. Pauleit, and S. Erlwein, “Sustainable Stormwater Management Under The Impact of Climate Change and Urban Densification,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 596, pp. 126137, 2021.
27. D. R. Richards and P. J. Edwards, “Using Water Management Infrastructure to Address Both Flood Risk and The Urban Heat Island,” International Journal of Water Resources Development, Vol. 34(4), pp. 490–498, 2017.
28. M. Shafique and R. Kim, “Application of Green Blue Roof to Mitigate Heat Island Phenomena and Resilient to Climate Change in Urban Areas: A Case Study from Seoul, Korea,” Journal of Water and Land Development, Vol. 33, pp. 165–170, 2017.
29. K. N. Irvine, H. H. Loc, C. Sovann, A. Suwanarit, F. Likitswat, R. Jindal, T. Koottatep, J. Gaut, L. H. C. Chua, L. W. Qi, and K. De Wandeler, “Bridging the Form and Function Gap in Urban Green Space Design through Environmental Systems Modeling,” Journal of Water Management Modeling, Vol. 29, pp. C476-1-19, 2021.
30. P. Fensterseifer, E. Gabriel, R. Tassi, D. G. A. Piccilli, and B. Minetto, “A Year-Assessment of The Suitability of a Green Façade to Improve Thermal Performance of an Affordable Housing,” Ecological Engineering, Vol. 185, pp. 106810, 2022.
31. A. M. Broadbent, A. M. Coutts, N. J. Tapper, M. Demuzere, and J. Beringer, “The Microscale Cooling Effects of Water Sensitive Urban Design and Irrigation in a Suburban Environment,” Theoretical and Applied Climatology, Vol. 134, pp. 1–23, 2018.
32. C. Rey-Mahía, L. A. Sañudo-Fontaneda, V. C. Andrés-Valeri, F. P. Álvarez-Rabanal, S. J. Coupe, and J. Roces-García, “Evaluating the Thermal Performance of Wet Swales Housing Ground Source Heat Pump Elements through Laboratory Modelling,” Sustainability, Vol. 11(11), pp. 3118, 2019.
33. Y. Zhang, H. Qin, J. Zhang, and Y. Hu, “An In-situ Measurement Method of Evapotranspiration from Typical Lid Facilities Based on The Three-Temperature Model,” Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 588, pp. 125105, 2020.
34. M. Razzaghmanesh and S. Beecham, “The Hydrological Behaviour of Extensive and Intensive Green Roofs in a Dry Climate,” Science of the Total Environment, Vol. 499, pp. 284–296, 2014.
35. P. J. Alexander, R. Fealy, and G. M. Mills, “Simulating The Impact of Urban Development Pathways on The Local Climate: A Scenario-Based Analysis in The Greater Dublin Region, Ireland,” Landscape and Urban Planning, Vol. 152, pp. 72–89, 2016.
36. D. A. Brent, L. Gangadharan, A. Lassiter, A. Leroux, and P. A. Raschky, “Valuing Environmental Services Provided by Local Stormwater Management,” Water Resources Research, Vol. 53, pp. 4907–4921, 2017.
37. A. H. Alsharif, N. Z. Md Salleh, R. Baharun, Y. H. Alsharif, and H. Abuhassna, “A Bibliometric Analysis of Neuromarketing: Current Status, Development and Future Directions,” International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting Finance and Management Sciences, Vol. 11(3), pp. 828–847, 2021.
38. A. Broadbent, (2016). " The Effect of Water Sensitive Urban Design and Outdoor Water-Use Practices on Urban Microclimate (Doctoral dissertation)," Monash University.